The Best Breakfasts And Brunches In Downtown San Diego

French toast
French toast | Photo by I Do Nothing But Love on Unsplash
Helen Silverstein

Downtown San Diego has a bustling night life, and the perfect way to recover after a night out is with a delicious breakfast or brunch. With so many fantastic cafés and restaurants, there are many perfect brunch or breakfast eateries in downtown San Diego. Read on to discover the 10 best places to get breakfast and brunch in downtown San Diego, California.

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The Broken Yolk Café

Sweet crêpes make for a delicious dessert

The Broken Yolk Café is a San Diego classic. The cheerful café with booths and exposed beams sits one block away from Petco Park. Some of The Broken Yolk’s breakfast specialties include varieties of eggs Benedict, nutella crepes, sweet potato pancakes, fried chicken and waffles, French toast stuffed with Marscapone cheese and bananas, and ‘tiki toast,’ which is sweet Hawaiian bread French toasted and topped with berries and shredded coconut. The Broken Yolk also serves a variety of omelets, burgers, sandwiches and salads.

This Gaslamp bakery on G Street serves as the perfect place for a light breakfast or brunch. Le Parfait Paris serves a variety of freshly baked French breads, pastries, and macarons. The bakery also serves several types of sandwiches, eggs, fruit bowls, salads, and eggs Benedict. Customers can order multiple flavors of coffee to go with their breakfast or brunch, such as pumpkin spice lattes, cappuccinos, Nutella macaron macchiatos, and café bonbon. A variety of wines, beers, champagnes, and cocktails are also available.

Meze

Meze is a Mediterranean and Greek fusion restaurant in the Gaslamp that serves a popular brunch on Saturdays and Sundays in the morning and early afternoon. Meze offers some Mediterranean twists on breakfast favorites with their Mediterranean omelet, gyro omelet, and ‘noble spartan omelet.’ They also offer other classics like eggs Benedict and a breakfast burrito. As an added bonus, bottomless mimosas and bloody Marys come with every entrée item, and customers can also order their ‘St. Germain brunch sangria’ to go with their meal.

Café de L’Opera

Café de L’Opera is an artistic café and coffee shop bakes its own pastries including its croissants, scones, macarons, brownies, and cookies. Customers can sit at tables or on plush sofas as they eat croissant sandwiches, French rolls, pita wraps, salads, and paninis. The café’s signature breakfast dish is a variety of toppings scrambled in eggs inside of a bagel or naan bread. The café also offers smoothies, juices, and a variety of types of organic coffee including mint mojito, turkish latte, dirty chai, and caramel macchiato.

Werewolf

2C5YW7W Vegan burrito. Sliced up raw food wrap with vegan ingredients on a plate. Close up

Werewolf is an American style pub in downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp quarter that serves breakfast until 1pm every day. Its breakfast options include pork belly Benedict, biscuits and gravy, breakfast burritos, hush puppies in gravy, huevos rancheros, and pancakes. Customers can also select plates from their regular menu like sandwiches, burgers, salads, and tacos. Werewolf has a full bar with a variety of cocktails as well as popular punch bowls. On the weekends they have brunch, an amped up version of their breakfast.

Zymology 21

Zymology 21 is a science themed bar and restaurant where drinks come in measuring cups and test tubes and the bar itself looks like the inside of a chemistry lab. For brunch, Zymology serves a unique chicken and waffles with habanero agave nectar and an herb cheddar waffle. Their French toast is also made with a creative twist — it’s corn flake challah bread with vanilla ice cream and custard. They serve a mix of brunch favorites and special concoctions, like mimosas, Cubano pork sandwiches, cured salmon tartaré, and green eggs and lamb.

The Mission

Located on J Street, The Mission is a Latin American and Asian fusion restaurant with a focus on innovative, healthy food. For breakfast, the Mission serves beautifully displayed plates of cinnamon french toast with berries, Mission rosemary potatoes, roast beef hash and eggs, chicken apple sausage and eggs, breakfast burritos, chilaquiles, plates with soy chorizo, various types of pancakes including blueberry cornmeal pancakes, strawberry banana pancakes, strawberry granola pancakes, and blackberry pancakes, sweet corn tamales, and their ‘zen’ breakfast (tofu with rice and grilled veggies).

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